Locking mechanisms for children's folding chairs are designed to secure the chair in the open or deployed position. One such quick-release type locking mechanism includes a slideable spring-loaded post disposed in the seat frame which engages an opening in the hinge mechanism of the chair. To unlock the chair for folding, a lever connected to the slideable post is pressed to release the post from the opening in the hinge mechanism.
However, this particular locking mechanism can easily fail when a child sits or moves on the chair and/or inadvertently presses the release lever causing the chair to collapse unexpectedly. A child's fingers can become caught or entrapped in the hinge area of the chair resulting in severe lacerations and even finger tip amputations. To date, there have been seven reports of severe lacerations to children's fingers and four reported finger tip amputations. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (C.S.P.C.), in cooperation with Atico® International USA Inc., recently announced a voluntary recall of about 1.5 million children's chair having these conventional locking mechanisms. The C.S.P.C. announced that consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. Accordingly, the locking mechanism does not, in fact, reliably secure the folding chair in the deployed position. Other locking mechanisms may suffer from the same problem.